Coetzar carries Scotland to series win
Kyle Coetzar’s unbeaten 89 was the mainstay of Scotland’s chase in the rain affected second ODI as the hosts overhauled the revised target of 162 runs with 5 wickets to spare. Netherlands made early in-roads in the chase but failed to rein in the batsmen at key moments, the hosts pocketed the two match series 2-0.
Chasing a modest target of 180, the Scotland reply was held together by a splendid knock by Kyle Coetzer who in the end missed the ton by just 11 runs. What made the knock special was that the opener never fell back on the asking rate and consumed only 99 balls in the process. However, his opening partner Fraser Watts was not so convincing and went without troubling the scorers. Calum Macleod’s dismissal soon after had the chase wobbling at 14 for 2 before Davey joined hands with Coetzer. The two led the recovery and the score had moved to 60 when the heavens opened and play was halted, the upshot being 9 overs were shaved off the Scotland innings and the target reset by the D/L from 181 to 162 in 41 overs.
After the rain break, Scotland lost Davey for 30 and McCallum’s dismissal shortly after had the asking rate climbing over the 4.5 mark for the first time. That, however, did not deter the settled man to throw away his wicket; he kept his cool to see the side through with 11 deliveries unused.
Earlier, an equally gritty 71 by Peter Borren helped Netherlands recover from early stutters to put some sort of a total on the board. He was involved in two crucial partnerships that got his team out of jail, from a struggling 54 for 6 the visitors fought their way to 180.
After electing to field, the Scotland bowlers led by debutant pacer Safyaan Sharif were all over the batsmen. Opener Michael Swart was the first one to be sent back, trapped in front by a Sharif inswinger. Wesley Barresi fell to a mistimed drive and by the time, Sharif made it three with Tewarie’s wicket, Netherlands were by all counts in trouble. For the visitors, three more quick wickets in a span of three overs left them needing serious repair work or the end was well in sight.
At this point, Borren and Heggelman got together and added vital 54 runs to lay the foundation of a respectable total. However, they scored runs at an agonizingly slow pace and ate up 21 overs for the 54 runs. Borren did make up for that in the end with some lusty hits in the last ten overs. He along with Mudassar Bukhari added 66 runs at more than run-a-ball, the latter was instrumental in the acceleration with a 21-ball 28. Borren also completed his fifty in the process, without which Netherlands may not have even crossed three figures. The right hander remained unbeaten on 71, he hit half the number of boundaries out of the 10 in the whole innings.
For the hosts, Sharif was the star with figures of 4 for 27; he was ably supported by Gordon Goudie who was economical in his seven over spell conceding only 18 runs and claimed three wickets at crucial junctures.
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